My earliest books were Little
Golden Books. I don’t know if parents give these books to their children
anymore, or grandparents to their grandchildren, but I am thankful to have not
only read them but also to have seen them.
If you read them as a child, can you still see them?
I couldn’t find any recent statistics
on the bestselling children’s books of all time, but as of 2001 it was not a Dr. Seuss book; it was a book
written by Janette Sebring Lowery and illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren. The cover
of that book is still in my mind, I can see it after all these years. I also
recall the covers of The Tawney Scrawny
Lion, and Tootle. A quick search
on the internet brought up other book covers that I immediately recognized and
which evoked memories. I am glad to see these books still in print, I hope they
are still being purchased and shared with children.
But it is images that I have
been thinking about, for in a world of visual filth and pollution, in which
children are daily exposed to visual toxins, it is good to have pure and
innocent images in one’s internal art gallery. A little adult reflection on the
cover of Tootle or The Tawney Scrawny Lion can be a fine respite
for the adult living in a world of filth and who is willing to say, “There must
be something more than the acquisition of things, of power, of position, of
money.”
Chesterton said that all he
really needed to know he learned in the nursery of his childhood. Images of
innocent beauty, ideals of courage and honor and virtue, visions of hope and
destiny and calling – these are (or were) the elements of childhood. But of
course, as Chesterton continues, adults soon tell the adolescent and young
adult that they must forget all that nonsense and get on with life, get on with
getting the most toys, the most accolades, the highest position – forget childhood
– be a man…be a woman!
Today we rob children of
childhood in myriad ways. We give them a compass that points not to the north
of virtue and character and calling, but one that points to money and things and
success – not success as a person of integrity and selflessness, but success in
a promiscuous materialistic world. We give them electronics instead thoughtful
art and books and the exploration of nature; we give them activities instead of
relationships. Children may know how to play organized and competitive soccer
with one another, but they do not know how to build friendships with one
another, how to go on an adventure in the backyard with one another. Children may
play on a baseball travel team and win trophies, but they do not know how to
play a pickup game in a neighbor’s yard with Bryce Harper or Derek Jeter –
their imaginations lie dormant.
The image of The Poky Little Puppy is an image worth
pondering, a drink of pure water in the cesspool of society.
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